The Corrida Colosseum...
The citizens and toys of Dressrosa had all fled here for shelter. They watched the Birdcage steadily contract in the distance, drawing closer with every passing moment. Panic filled their eyes.
"Everyone, there's still hope! Hold your ground and remain calm!" King Riku, disguised as the gladiator Ricky, stood at the edge of the crowd in full armor, sword raised. "Phoenix Marco is treating the wounded. He said Lord Shinko will defeat Doflamingo and bring down the Birdcage! All we need to do is wait calmly and maintain order."
His words represented the only hope most of the citizens had left. Everyone understood that there was nothing they could do to save themselves now. All they could do was wait.
Wait for a miracle. Wait for a great hero to appear.
At that moment...
'Bang!'
A figure surrounded by golden radiance entered the arena through Gate Five.
"The contestants have entered the arena!" Gaz announced dutifully. "Because Assoria, the winner from Gate Four, was defeated by Phoenix Marco, and because Marco apparently reached some sort of agreement with Shinko and chose not to participate, only four contestants will compete in the final! Which of them will emerge victorious? Let us find out!"
Gaz continued his commentary, but the tremor in his voice and the way he kept glancing at Shinko revealed that his thoughts were no different from those of the surrounding citizens.
However, after stepping through Gate Five, Shinko suddenly paused. He appeared to sense something and swept his gaze across the arena.
Unlike the Corrida Colosseum in the original story, this battlefield contained neither water nor giant Fighting Fish. It was nothing more than a broad, open stretch of flat ground. Caesar's cage hung in the air above the center of the arena. The only noteworthy feature was the large number of Camera Den Den Mushi positioned around the battlefield, seemingly prepared to capture every detail of what happened inside.
"Fuffuffuffuffuffu..."
As Shinko entered, Doflamingo's distinctive laughter came from the throne above the arena.
"You didn't bring Marco in with you? I thought the two of you had formed an alliance." He grinned, a deeper meaning hidden in his words. "You have three opponents. Don't disappoint me, Twelve Zodiacs. Fuffuffuffuffuffu..."
Shinko glanced at him but didn't get a chance to answer before another voice rang out.
"Hey, Joker! What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
Across the arena from Shinko stood the Three Calamities. The one shouting was Queen, a cigar clenched between his teeth and an irritated expression on his face.
"Are you trying to turn us against the Twelve Zodiacs?!" He glared furiously at Doflamingo. "Instead of wasting time with that nonsense, you'd better start worrying about yourself! Governor-General Kaido will never, no, once I take Caesar, I'll kill you myself!"
Queen was furious. This mission was supposed to be a simple visit with an old research colleague, along with an opportunity to show off his current status. Because of Doflamingo, however, everything had spiraled out of control. Now he somehow found himself facing the Twelve Zodiacs head-on.
If he had known this would happen, he would have pretended to be ill and stayed in Udon to enjoy his red-bean soup!
"Hey, Shinko! Can't we discuss this?" Queen called out. "Joker may be a bastard, but he isn't wrong. Even you would have trouble fighting all three of us at once, wouldn't you? There's no reason for us to fight. Let us take Caesar first, and then we can sit down and discuss everything else."
Queen tried to avoid a battle through negotiation.
Shinko merely glanced at him. "Idiot."
"Huh?" Queen froze, then exploded in anger. "Who the hell are you calling an idiot?!"
"There's no need to waste words on him, Brother Queen." Beside him, Jack flexed his hands. "The Twelve Zodiacs have caught Governor-General Kaido's attention recently. Defeating this man and taking him back to Onigashima would be a major achievement."
Danger radiated from his voice.
"Don't be reckless," King said sternly. As the leader of the Three Calamities, his words immediately stopped Queen and Jack. "Stick to the plan."
"Tch!" Queen spat irritably.
"Understood, Brother King," Jack replied with a nod.
Both of them had their own ideas, but they knew King was right. With the situation already beyond their control, following the plan they had prepared was the safest option.
Gaz's voice rang out again. "And now, I hereby announce that the final round is about to begin!"
At his declaration, every Camera Den Den Mushi in the colosseum activated simultaneously, covering every corner of the arena.
'Click! Click! Click!'
At the same time, the restraints surrounding Caesar's cage fell away.
"The restrictions on the prize have been removed! The rules of the final are simple, the first person to seize the prize wins! Now, let the countdown begin!"
Gaz finished speaking.
"Ten!"
The countdown echoed throughout the colosseum. Strangely, however, it wasn't Gaz's voice.
"Nine!"
The instant the countdown began...
'Bang! Bang! Bang!'
The Three Calamities moved.
Queen's body expanded, transforming into his brachiosaurus hybrid form. His mechanical left arm, head, and enormous torso split open at the same time.
'Click! Click! Click!'
Machinery whirred inside him as powerful laser beams gathered within the openings in his body.
"A countdown?" Armament Haki surged wildly across Queen's body. "Who the hell is going to wait for that?! Black Spark, Maximum Output: QUEEN!"
Lasers infused with Armament Haki erupted from his body and shot toward Shinko.
At the same moment, Jack transformed into his mammoth hybrid form and swung both blades, launching a slash at Shinko. The monstrous strength of his Fish-Man blood erupted in full force, the slash tearing through the arena floor in an instant!
"Elephant Slash: JACK!"
'Bang! Bang!'
Both attacks struck Shinko's position simultaneously, sending an enormous cloud of dust billowing into the air.
"Eight!"
"Seven!"
The countdown continued even as Queen and Jack launched their assault. King, however, remained where he was. He made no attempt to join his companions in attacking Shinko.
"Six!"
"Five!"
Instead, he bent his knees and spread the wings on his back. Then he leaped.
'Fwoosh!'
The flame behind his head suddenly went out, and his body transformed into an enormous pteranodon. He shot into the sky and flew straight toward Caesar. His speed was astonishing, even for an Ancient Zoan user.
"Th-This is..." Gaz exclaimed. "The Three Calamities of the Beasts Pirates clearly planned this in advance! They've divided their forces! Queen the Plague and Jack the Drought are keeping Shinko occupied, while King the Conflagration is heading directly for the prize!"
Gaz's commentary perfectly described their strategy.
The Three Calamities had watched Shinko's earlier performance through the broadcast. He had annihilated the Legion of Conquerors in an instant and single-handedly suppressed the chaos engulfing the entire country. His terrifying Conqueror's Haki, overwhelming strength, and wide range of abilities proved that the Twelve Zodiacs fully deserved their reputation across the seas. His power was unquestionably overwhelming.
Even the Three Calamities, All-Stars of the Beasts Pirates who possessed absolute confidence in their own strength, had failed to see the true depths of Shinko's abilities.
As established earlier, King cared only about Kaido's ambitions. Rather than fight Shinko directly, he naturally chose the plan that offered the greatest reward: send his two underlings to occupy Shinko while he seized Caesar and immediately withdrew.
King had absolute confidence in his speed. As one of the last surviving Lunarians, extinguishing the flame behind his head dramatically increased his speed. The price was a corresponding drop in his defenses, but under the current circumstances, that hardly mattered.
"Four!"
King tore through the air.
"Three!"
By the time the countdown reached three, he had already arrived beside Caesar's iron cage.
"Imperial Flaming Bow!" He swept his wings forward.
'Slash!'
The cage was sliced apart.
"He did it!" Queen and Jack exclaimed together.
The plan had gone even more smoothly than expected. They had been prepared to throw themselves against Shinko if he tried to stop King. Yet Shinko hadn't merely failed to interfere, he hadn't counterattacked even once.
"Two!"
As the countdown continued, Caesar fell from the shattered cage toward King.
"So much for the Twelve Zodiacs!" Queen raised an eyebrow smugly. "He's nothing but a poser! Hey, Jack! Once King has Caesar, we're retreating. You'll stay behind and cover us!"
"Yes, Brother Queen!"
But at that very moment, a voice came from the thinning cloud of dust before them.
"What fools. Death is already upon you, yet you haven't even realized it."
Shinko's silhouette gradually emerged. He still held his golden staff and hadn't made any unnecessary movements. It looked as though he were waiting for something.
His voice, however, reached Queen and Jack perfectly clearly.
Death was upon them? A flicker of confusion crossed their minds.
Then...
"What?!"
King, still flying through the air, was the first to notice something was wrong.
The appearance of the falling "Caesar" had begun to change. His tearful expression, previously filled with a desperate will to survive, turned dull and deathly gray. His body started rotting as it fell, revealing the marks of the torture he had suffered.
Caesar Clown had been dead all along. What everyone had seen was nothing more than an illusion, a dream. Perhaps it had been Caesar's final dream before he was tortured to death.
Nightmare Cave: Dream of Survival.
King's expression changed drastically. Realizing the danger, he immediately tried to retreat.
But it was already too late.
"One."
The countdown finally ended, and the voice behind it became cold and imperious.
"Action, welcome to the stage... Vermin of the Lower Realm."
As the words rang out, the situation changed instantly.
"?!"
All three Calamities paled as they realized something was terribly wrong.
"I can't move!"
Queen, a cyborg, couldn't move. Jack, a Fish-Man, couldn't move. Even King, a Lunarian, was completely immobilized.
An invisible force had bound their bodies in place. They couldn't even activate their Armament Haki.
Before they could react, the voice spoke again.
"After the establishing shot comes the second shot."
Several Camera Den Den Mushi slowly turned toward them.
"Shot two, a close-up."
As the Den Den Mushi focused their lenses on Queen and Jack, both men felt their powerful bodies rapidly weakening.
Then, in the next instant, a hoarse voice rang out above them.
"Vector Manipulation: God-Slaying Spear - Spear of Suffering!"
Vectors shifted. Four spears made of white bone descended from above at a speed impossible for the naked eye to follow, hurtling toward the immobilized Three Calamities, and Shinko.
'BOOM!'
The air groaned beneath the overwhelming force. The bone spears pierced straight through the arena floor, leaving behind bottomless holes.
Dust and violent explosions erupted across the battlefield, shaking the entire Corrida Colosseum!
(End of Chapter)
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